Has boom in going private hit its peak?

Signs are appearing that private-equity groups may be having more difficulty making deals.

from the June 25, 2007 edition

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Representative Kucinich, the chairman of the Domestic Policy Subcommittee, plans to hold hearings on the matter on July 11, according to a spokeswoman.

Congress may also look into the tax rates paid by private-equity groups. The companies, which are set up as partnerships, have been paying taxes at a 15 percent capital-gains rate, according to reports. But they compete against firms such as Goldman Sachs, whose tax rate can be as high as 35 percent. Key Democratic lawmakers are considering the opportunity to raise new revenue to pay for other programs.

Blackstone and any other private-equity groups going public, traditionally very reticent to talk to the media, will also have to change the way they communicate, says Davia Temin, CEO of Temin and Co., a strategic-marketing firm in New York.

"They have not had to divulge a lot of information about themselves," she says. "They probably know all the rules. They just haven't been doing them."

Considering these changes, why go public? Diversification of personal assets might be one reason, says Clifford Smith Jr., professor of finance and economics at the University of Rochester's Simon Graduate School of Business. "It frees up personal funds," he says. "Here's a way to make sure if thing's don't look as rosy in the future, I have other irons in the fire."

According to The Wall Street Journal, Blackstone's CEO, Stephen Schwarzman, raised more than $900 million, and co-founder Peter Peterson collected $1.9 billion in the offering. Mr. Schwarzman will still own more than $7 billion of the company's stock and Mr. Peterson $1.35 billion, according to the Journal.

But others think it might be an indication that the era of large returns on private equity is ending. "If you're not at the top, you are approaching it," says Mr. Mousseau of Cumberland Advisors. "The smart money is getting out on the equity side."

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